American Netflix Online (USA): Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and 'Friends,' 'Home Improvement', 'Sullivan & Son,' 'Terminator' Producers Unite for New Netflix Series
Let's give Netflix two thumbs up for reuniting Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the new comedy Grace and Frankie. Fonda and Tomlin, along with Dolly Parton, starred in the hit 1980s film comedy 9 to 5.
The Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie is created by Friends co-creator and producer Marta Kauffman. With the success of Friends, Kauffman, and perhaps Netflix viewers, are looking for another hit.
The show will be a single camera comedy series, with an expected 13 episodes. It is about two nemeses, Grace (Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin), who suddenly discover that their husbands are in love with each other and want to get married. Fonda and Tomlin, now find that their lives are intertwined and complicated.
Will this be a hit for Netflix?
The company's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos stated that Fonda and Tomlin are among the funniest and most formidable actresses ever, and that this is a great opportunity for them to "run riot," E! Online reported.
But not only are Netflix and Kauffman involved in this project, Fonda and Tomlin are reportedly producing the series, as well as Howard J. Morris, producer of Home Improvement and TBS's Sullivan & Son, and, David Ellison of Skydance Productions, the Times reported.
The show will mark 34 years since Fonda and Tomlin have worked together, but the two have been busy since then. Fonda and Tomlin are both HBO darlings. Fonda won an Emmy nomination for her recurring guest role on HBO's The Newsroom, and Tomlin won an Emmy for HBO's An Apology to Elephants. In addition, Fonda is a two time Oscar winner and Tony nominee, while Tomlin has won seven Emmys, and two Tony Awards.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is Skydance's second series and first comedy. They produced WGN's atomic bomb drama, Manhattan. The company is also producing the Terminator reboot due in July 2015, as well as Mission Impossible 5. From last year to this year, Skydance has produced Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, World War Z, and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Grace and Frankie, scheduled to debut in 2015, is now part of Netflix's growing original content. They include the hit show House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, Lilyhammer, and Orange Is the New Black. Netflix is also preparing for the Marvel series: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, a mini-series called The Defenders, and a family drama starring Sissy Spacek and Kyle Chandler, from the creators of Damages.